For discussion this week let's look at the bigger picture and the data that determines how the economy is performing overall. Each of you must select a year to report on. It can be the year you were born or any other year of your choice, but there can only be one report for any given year. It can not be the past 3 years.

For your year state the following information: annual unemployment rate, annual rate of inflation, and annual Real GDP growth rate. Be sure to post REAL GDP growth, not Nominal!

Here are links to sites that are easy to navigate:

Real GDP Growth - www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-growth-rate/table/by-year

Unemployment Rate - www.multpl.com/unemployment/table/by-year

US Inflation Rate - www.multpl.com/inflation/table/by-year

Along with specific rates for you year provide a brief narrative about the state of the U.S. economy at that time. Who was president? What things were happening? Was the economy experiencing a recession or an expansion? Was the economy in equilibrium? A good description of the year will involve looking at the year before and the year after. Remember a recession must be at least 6 months of downturn.

Note that key economic data can sometimes be difficult to locate depending upon which country you choose. The CIA World Factbook is a petty reliable source of international data.